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Pretty Baby (1978)
| runtime = 109 minutes | country = United States | language = English | gross = $5,786,368 }} Pretty Baby is a 1978 American drama film directed by Louis Malle, starring Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine and Susan Sarandon. The screenplay was based on Al Rose's book "Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red Light District." The film attracted controversy due to its theme of child prostitution and a nude scene featuring Brooke Shields (who was only 12 years old at the time). Plot In 1917 (during the last months of legal prostitution in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans, Louisiana), Hattie is a prostitute working at an elegant brothel run by the elderly, cocaine-sniffing Madame Nell. Hattie has given birth to a baby boy and has a 12-year-old daughter, Violet, who lives in the house. When photographer Ernest J. Bellocq comes with his camera, Hattie and Violet are the only people awake. He asks to be allowed to take photographs of the women. Madame Nell agrees only after he offers to pay. Bellocq becomes a fixture in the brothel, photographing the prostitutes, mostly Hattie. His activities fascinate Violet, though she believes he is falling in love with her mother, which makes her jealous. Violet is a restless child, frustrated by the long, precise process that Bellocq must go through to pose and take pictures. Nell decides that Violet is old enough for her virginity to be auctioned off. After a bidding war among regulars, Violet is bought by an apparently quiet customer. This first sexual experience is unpleasant. Meanwhile, Hattie aspires to escape prostitution. She marries a customer and leaves for St. Louis without her daughter, whom her husband believes to be her sister. Hattie promises to return for Violet once she’s settled and has broken the news to the new spouse. Violet runs away from the brothel after being punished for some hijinks. She appears on Bellocq’s doorstep and asks him if he will sleep with her and take care of her. He initially says no, but then the two become lovers. In some ways, their relationship resembles one between a parent and child with Bellocq standing in for Violet's absent mother. Bellocq even buys Violet a doll, telling her that "every child should have a doll." He is entranced by Violet’s beauty, youth, and photogenic face. Violet is frustrated by Bellocq’s devotion to his photography, as much as he is frustrated by her lack of maturity and endless tantrums. Violet eventually returns to Nell’s after quarreling with Bellocq, but social reform groups are forcing the brothels of Storyville to close. Bellocq arrives to wed Violet, ostensibly to protect her from the larger world, but two weeks after the wedding, Hattie and her husband arrive from St. Louis to collect Violet, claiming that her marriage is illegal without their consent. Bellocq does not want to let Violet go. Violet asks if he will go with her and her family. Upon hearing that she does in fact want to go with them, he lets her leave without him, realizing that schooling and a more conventional life will benefit her greatly. Cast *Keith Carradine as Ernest J. Bellocq *Brooke Shields as Violet *Susan Sarandon as Hattie *Frances Faye as Nell *Antonio Fargas as Professor *Matthew Anton as Red Top *Diana Scarwid as Frieda *Barbara Steele as Josephine *Seret Scott as Flora *Cheryl Markowitz as Gussie *Susan Manskey as Fanny *Laura Zimmerman as Agnes *Miz Mary as Odette *Gerrit Graham as Highpockets *Mae Mercer as Mama Mosebery Production "Pretty Baby" was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana and in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. For the role of Violet, various actresses such as Tatum O'Neal, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Diane Lane, Ally Sheedy, Linda Blair, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Debra Winger either auditioned, were considered or were offered the part in the film. The part ended up going to Brooke Shields. For the role of Bellocq, actors such as Robert Redford, John Travolta, Sylvester Stallone, Dustin Hoffman, Joe Pesci and Rob Reiner were considered or offered the part. The part ended up going to Keith Carradine. For Brooke Shields' nude scenes, Susan Sarandon gave her a g-string so she wouldn't have to be totally nude. Film Content "Pretty Baby" received an "R" rating in the United States, an "X" rating in the United Kingdom and an "R18+" rating in Australia due to the nudity and sexual content in the film. Due to the controversy of Brooke Shields' nude scenes, the film was banned in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario. In the United Kingdom, the BBFC censored two scenes from the film to remove nudity. Reception Box Office In the United States, "Pretty Baby" earned $5.8 million. Critical Reception "Pretty Baby" mostly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 79% of 14 critics had given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.9 out of 10. The issues of prostitution and child pornography were not far from critics' thoughts. In Vincent Canby's review for the New York Times, he wrote: "Mr. Malle, the French director ... has made some controversial films in his time but none, I suspect, that is likely to upset convention quite as much as this one – and mostly for the wrong reasons. Though the setting is a whorehouse, and the lens through which we see everything is Violet, who ... herself becomes one of Nell's chief attractions, Pretty Baby is neither about child prostitution nor is it pornographic." He ended his review with the claim that "Pretty Baby" is "the most imaginative, most intelligent, and most original film of the year to date." Similarly, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert discussed how "Pretty Baby has been attacked in some quarters as child porn. It's not. It's an evocation of a time and a place and a sad chapter of Americana." He also praised Brooke Shields' performance in the film, writing that she "''really creates a character here; her subtlety and depth are astonishing." On the other hand, Variety wrote that "the film is handsome, the players nearly all effective, but the story highlights are confined within a narrow range of ho-hum dramatization." Asheville, North Carolina, Mountain Xpress critic Ken Hanke, looking at the film from the perspective of 2003, said of "Pretty Baby": "It was once shocking and dull. Now it's just dull." Accolades '''1978 Cannes Film Awards *Technical Grand Prize: Louis Malle (won) *Palme d'Or: Louis Malle (nominated) 1978 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards *Best Cinematography: Sven Nykvist 1978 National Board of Review Awards *NBR Award for Top Ten Films (won) 1979 Academy Awards *Oscar for Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score: Jerry Wexler (nominated) Theatrical Trailer Category:1978 films Category:American drama films Category:Paramount Pictures films